National Association for the Advancement of Colored People v. Horne

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Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Description: The Maricopa County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum filed a federal lawsuit through their attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union against an Arizona bill that prohibits sex- and race-based abortions.

SAN FRANCISCO — Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit urging it to reject the NAACP’s lawsuit against an Arizona bill that prohibits sex- and race-based abortions.

ADF attorneys along with ADF-allied attorney and University of St. Thomas Law Professor Teresa Collett represent bill sponsor Rep. Steve Montenegro, U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, Dr. Alveda King, and multiple African-American and women’s groups who oppose such abortions. Montgomery is also serving as co-counsel.

“Every innocent life deserves to be protected, and that’s especially true of any babies targeted for death simply because of their sex or race,” said ADF Senior Counsel Casey Mattox. “Nothing about an abortion committed on the basis of sex or race is medically necessary or constitutionally protected. The fact that groups who supposedly exist to protect the interests of minorities and women are attacking this law is scandalous.”

A district court dismissed the lawsuit in October of last year, but American Civil Liberties Union attorneys representing the Maricopa County branch of the NAACP and the National Asian-Pacific American Women’s Forum appealed that decision.

The Frederick Douglass Foundation, Susan B. Anthony List, Radiance Foundation, National Black Pro-Life Union, and University Faculty for Life also joined the brief in support of the Arizona bill.

The brief filed in National Association for the Advancement of Colored People v. Horne reviews the actual debates of the Arizona legislature and argues that “the legislative record reveals troubling statistical disparities in the abortion rates of various racial and ethnic groups, as well as disturbing differences in the sex-ratio of births to women from various communities.”

“Review of the public record establishes that legislators were working proactively to combat emerging, yet well-documented and serious, public health concerns when passing the Act,” the brief continues. “There simply is no ‘stigmatic’ injury here” as the lawsuit against the Arizona law claims.

“Preserving the life of all babies, regardless of their sex or race, should be everyone’s priority,” added ADF Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden. “We hope the 9th Circuit will not allow this needless attack on Arizona’s law to succeed.”

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.

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Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Previous news releases:

2013-10-03: Court throws out NAACP challenge to Ariz. law against sex-, race-based abortions

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ABOUT Casey Mattox

Casey Mattox serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom. His litigation efforts focus on sanctity of human life issues, including waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars by the abortion industry. Prior to serving with ADF, Mattox litigated for the Christian Legal Society Center for Law & Religious Freedom, as well as the Rutherford Institute, and clerked for Justice Champ Lyons of the Alabama Supreme Court. Mattox earned his J.D. from Boston College Law School and is a member of the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and numerous federal courts.

ABOUT Steven H. Aden

Steven H. Aden serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom and is director of its Center for Life Alliances, where he works to defend the sanctity of human life. Aden joined ADF in 2008 and is admitted to the bars of the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Hawaii (inactive). He is also a member of the bars of the U.S. Supreme Court and numerous federal circuit and district courts. He has practiced law since 1990 and earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.